Kirkland Arts Center hires new exhibitions director, marketing manager

Known for its excellence in visual art education and contemporary art exhibitions, Kirkland Arts Center (KAC) has launched a series of initiatives to improve the public's access to compelling art experiences and to train the artists and curators of tomorrow. These initiatives will be furthered with the hiring of two dynamic leaders: Jayme Yahr, exhibitions director; and Renata Almeida, marketing manager.

April 4, 2011 8:58 pm

Known for its excellence in visual art education and contemporary art exhibitions, Kirkland Arts Center (KAC) has launched a series of initiatives to improve the public’s access to compelling art experiences and to train the artists and curators of tomorrow. These initiatives will be furthered with the hiring of two dynamic leaders: Jayme Yahr, exhibitions director; and Renata Almeida, marketing manager.

Yahr will set the vision for KAC’s Exhibitions program, which includes eight contemporary exhibitions in the KAC gallery, six to 12 satellite exhibitions throughout the region, and several public lectures, discussions, and art events. Yahr will also mentor graduate students through KAC’s flagship Emerging Curator Initiative (ECI), which provides a national model for training curators in the field.

Yahr was previously the curatorial assistant at the Frye Art Museum.

KAC also hired Renata Almeida to lead KAC’s marketing department and establish practices to reinvigorate KAC’s initiatives through research and communications. Her work will focus on three main areas: education (student outreach and content marketing initiatives); development (community outreach and special events); and retail (promotion and customer service strategies for the KAC Store at the Kirkland Parkplace mall).

Almeida will also work with MarketFitz (www.marketfitz.com ), a leading marketing strategy firm that serves clients ranging in size from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, to reach new audiences. MarketFitz will conduct research to better understand the needs of KAC’s students, patrons and the community on a pro-bono basis, and work with Renata to develop a long-term strategic marketing plan for the organization.

Almeida has worked as an independent marketing consultant with clients such as Shunpike and 4Culture, offering strategic advice on public relations, content marketing and internal communications initiatives. One of her last projects before joining KAC was the successful launch of Storefronts Seattle, a program to bring art and creative enterprises to empty storefronts in Seattle neighborhoods.